What Are You Bringing?

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!

Wanna know a secret?
I am 39 years old, and I've never had to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner for a big group of people. Pretty cool, huh?

My wonderful Mom is alive and kicking, planning and inviting, cooking and baking. Truly something to be thankful for. Mom puts on a fantastic Thanksgiving feast - all the delicious food, the rolls, the pies, everything homemade.

Oh. Except the stuffing. The stuffing isn't homemade. I wonder why not. Maybe the family took a vote and decided that Stove Top (with a few added things, like pecans) was good enough. Maybe not enough people like the stuffing to go to the trouble of making it from scratch. Oh well. The stuffing isn't the real draw of the day, food wise.

The pies are. My Mom is pretty much the best pie maker in the world. I think my Dad decided to marry her after eating one of her pies. Flaky, homemade pastry crust, fluted edges (because appearance counts), and filled with all kinds of rich, satisfying delights. This year she's making :
pecan - my favorite
banana cream - my nephew's favorite
pumpkin - well, it is Thanksgiving after all,
cherry - my Dad's favorite, and
apple - another all around favorite.

We could call it Pie Day. I can't wait.

The whole family is going to be at dinner this year, and of course we all contribute and help out. We (the daughters and daughters-in-law) handle the side dishes and my Mom stays in charge of the turkey, the rolls and the pies. Dad likes my Mom to be the one making the pies.

For the past forever, the dish that I've been assigned, is the yams. It's a lowly dish, not even well liked by very many, but it's tradition and it adds some very pretty, bright color to the plate. So we continue to have it every year.

I happen to like the yams, and my Mom does too, but a lot of people simply find them "okay" , and don't want to waste valuable stomach space on them. Did I really just write "valuable stomach space"? Do other people think like this, or just my family?

I know I'm putting this up too late for anyone to try it out this year, but I'll do it anyway. This is what I'm bringing to the Thanksgiving Pie Day dinner:

************************************************
Apples and Yams
(a beloved family recipe that no one makes room for - even though it's delicious. And colorful)

Big pile of yams/or 1 can of yams
2/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. orange peel
1 C. orange juice
2 Tbs. butter
apples - Golden Delicious are perfect for this

If you're starting out with the raw yams, cut them in half and partially cook them in boiling water - maybe 20 minutes -so you can peel the skin off easily and cut them into thick slices. At least 1/2 thick. Lay the slices in a 9x13 baking dish. Or...just drain the can and dump it in the dish.

In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt,and orange peel. Add the OJ and the butter and cook until it thickens and boils. Or boils and thickens. Just make sure that both of these happen.

Peel and slice the apples and lay those down among the yams. No real amount is specified - just do whatever might get eaten.

Pour the orange juice sauce over the apples and yams and bake at 350 degrees until everything is nice and tender, about an hour. Whole lot less if you use the canned yams.

It really is delicious - not too sweet, and the orange sauce goes perfectly with it. It's a wonderful side dish - colorful, healthy, and it's great to have the next day, since no one will eat it during the actual dinner. Sigh.

I may even like these more than the mashed potatoes and gravy. Can't say that to Troy though - such a statement would be considered blasphemous to his mighty mashed potato soul.

****************************************************

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and can be with the ones you love. And...

What is your favorite part of the meal?